European patent EP 0 351 298 A2 discloses a binding having a mounting part, which can be attached by means of screws to the surface of a snowboard. The mounting part has a recess in the form of an elongated hole. A peg projects through this elongated hole and is set at a distance from a clamping plate, which is arranged between the bottom side of the mounting part and the top side of the snowboard and which can move in the direction of the mentioned elongated hole. A base plate can be set on the mounting part, wherein the base plate also has a recess through which said peg projects. The typical attachment elements are attached to the base plate for holding a shoe on the base plate. Above the base plate there is a hold-down plate which has a central recess through which a screw is inserted and can be screwed into threads of the mentioned peg of the clamping plate. When the screw is tightened, the base plate is fixed between the hold-down plate and the mounting plate because the hold-down plate is pulled against the clamping plate. When the screw is loosened, the entire unit consisting of the clamping plate, mounting plate, and hold-down plate can be shifted in the elongated hole of the mounting plate, which allows the position of the binding to be set in a longitudinal direction. Here, the screw has an activation handle so that it can also be tightened and loosened by hand, thus without a tool.
EP 0 840 640 B1 shows a similar binding, for which, however, the mounting plate with elongated hole is incorporated into the body of the snowboard and has a box-like profile with an elongated slot. A similar binding is also shown in DE 295 01 515 U1, for which a guide profile is also incorporated into the body of the snowboard. Instead of a hold-down plate, there is merely a central screw at this position that engages through a corresponding hole of the base plate. One such binding is also shown in FR 25 75 660 A1.
A common feature in all of the mentioned bindings is that the position of the binding can be adjusted easily and without a tool in the longitudinal direction of the snowboard, wherein for this prior art fixing of the binding is always realized by frictional forces. Some of these bindings, e.g., EP 0 840 640 B1 and EP 0 351 298 A2, also allow adjustment of the rotational position of the base plate relative to a rotational axis perpendicular to the snowboard surface.
FR 26 27 097 A1 and WO 98/08480 A1 show snowboard bindings, for which only the rotational position of the base plate can be changed without a tool. For FR 26 27 097 A1, toothed racks, which engage in counter teeth and which can move linearly, are attached to a rotary plate. The racks are shifted with a lever, which can open or close the toothing. For WO 98/08480 A1, the base plate is attached to a rotary plate with a locking peg, which is formed on the rotary plate, can move perpendicular to the snowboard surface, and can be locked in holes of a counter plate.
For the last-mentioned bindings, only the rotational position of the binding can be set, but not its position relative to the surface of the snowboard.
All of these bindings have the essential purpose that every adjustment is simple to realize, so that these bindings are suitable, above all, for snowboard rental, where the binding frequently must be adjusted to different users. Such bindings are also suitable for persons who like to find their optimal position by experiment, and who like to try different binding positions or alignments quickly, without tools, while on the slope.
In general, the adjustment of position and alignment for a snowboard binding should have three degrees of freedom, namely    in the longitudinal direction of the snowboard    in the cross direction of the snowboard, and    relative to a rotational axis perpendicular to the snowboard surface    where the adjustment should be realized as much as possible with no steps or very fine steps. Here, it is desirable, as in the mentioned prior art, if the adjustment can be performed simply and without tools. Finally, the set position should be reliably maintained even for large forces such as those occurring between the binding and snowboard while riding the snowboard.